The Greatest Gift of All
by Bumblebee93
Summary: Clare is nothing special. She works as an elf at toy store during the holidays, and is irritable and impatient. Her simple lifestyle takes a wrong turn when an accident forces her to cross paths with a boy about to make the biggest mistake of his life. Is it a Christmas Miracle? Or Fate. Happy Holidays! :)
1. Wrong Turn

**All right you guys! I just came up with this story idea…I'm pretty eager for winter. (Holidays, snow, church) So I came up with this. (: I really like what I have here..And I hope you do too.**

**-Bumblebee93 **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Degrassi or any quotes used in this story. **

_**I'm not crazy. I'm a long way from crazy. Doing one crazy thing does not make a person crazy.**_

_**~Trudie; Holiday in Handcuffs**_

**Clare- **

As she closed up shop for the night, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It had been a long hard day. Between her boss's angry demands, the stupid elf costume she had to wear, and the last minute shoppers, she couldn't wait to go home to her little apartment. Nothing sounded better than dumplings from Mr. Wang's and a chick flick with Ali, her roommate.

Flipping the open sign over, she shut the door. Where had she parked this morning? She tried her best to remember as she shuffled down the side walk. It was mid- December and Toronto had already had 3 feet of snow. Her feet were freezing, and her fingers were beginning to go numb. Despite how awful she felt, she couldn't help but smile as she climbed into her car. The holidays were here, and even she, the cranky elf in Old and New Toys could feel the magic that was in the air.

Climbing into her rusty little station wagon, she shoved the key in the ignition and waited for it to warm up. The snow was beginning to fall heavier, the roads would be a mess tomorrow. Turning on the radio, the car filled with the sound of Christmas carols.

As she began the drive home, she barely noticed the warm glow coming from the shop windows. She was much too focused on not hitting the shoppers that scurried around the street. Being an employee at the mall, she had been done with the holidays before they'd even started.

She pulled up to a red light, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. As it turned green, she double checked to make sure there were no last minute shoppers making their way across the street. The last thing she needed was a dent on the hood of her car.

She made a left. The wrong left. And it led her to a nearly deserted street. The street lamps lit up the dark with a dull orange glow and cars were parked on the street. But other than that it was dead. She drove farther down, hoping for a way out.

**Eli-**

He pulled his jacket on tighter as he hurried out the door of the store.

"I'll be there in a few minutes Immy. " He practically yelled into the phone, Imogen had been incredibly clingy lately, calling him as often as she could, bringing him lunch at work, it seemed everywhere he went she was there. They were supposed to be meeting at her favorite restaurant for dinner tonight.. He had to make a stop for an "Early Christmas Present" for her.

He had come across it a week or so ago, and even though it was way out of his price range, and the shop wasn't in the best of neighbor hoods, he had decided the look on her face would be worth it.

Without looking both ways, he hurried across the street to where his car was parked. A honking horn and a blindingly bright light. And then everything went black.

**Clare-**

Her phone began to ring, it was probably Ali calling to remind her to pick up dinner on her way back to the apartment. Reaching down, she began to dig in her purse for her phone.

"C'mon. Where are ya.." she mumbled to herself, finally wrapping her hands around the slick plastic case. Sitting back up in her seat, she realized that she wasn't the only one out tonight. There was somebody hurrying across the street, and they were dangerously close to being run down.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Clare slammed on the breaks, hit the horn as hard as she could, and prayed that she would stop in time. The flash of black and the thud made it known that she hadn't.

When the car stopped, she climbed out of it as carefully as she could. Hands covering her eyes, she poked her head out towards the ground. Almost afraid to look, she glanced down to the packed down snow to see a dark haired man. His eyes were shut, and he wasn't moving.

**Eli-**

Had he died? Was he in heaven? He couldn't be sure. But if this was heaven he'd hate to be in hell. Whatever he was lying on, it was hard and cold. There was something warm trickling down his face, and if he didn't know any better. He'd say its blood. That wouldn't make sense though. If he was dead, he wouldn't be bleeding. The only thing that made sense was the voice he was hearing. It must have belonged to an angel.

"Oh shit. Oh shit shit shit! Clare! How could you do this? Killed a guy right before Christmas! Great. What do I do? I can't leave. But I can't stay…shit!"

His head was pounding. That wasn't right either, if he was in heaven shouldn't all of the pain be gone by now? He let out a groan, slowly opening his eyes. There was a very blurry angel in front of him. It had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. The only problem there was that the angel seemed to be crying.

**Clare- **

She stood there over the poor man's body trying to figure out what she should do. Turning herself in would be the right thing, but she didn't really want to spend the holidays in jail. She lowered herself onto the ground, trying to figure out what to do. Glancing at the body next to her, she took in the damage. It didn't _look _ too bad a couple of cuts and bruises, how could it have killed him? She bent down to get a closer look, only to find that the body began to groan, opening its eyes. She jumped back, stifling a scream.

"Sir? Are you okay? " she questioned, cautiously leaning over him once more.

"Such a pretty Angel. Why are you crying?" the man had a smile on his face, but his eyebrows were pushed together in deep concern.

_Shit. He thinks I'm an angel. _She tucked her hair behind her ear, biting her lip. She couldn't think way to respond to the poor man. She glanced away for a second, trying to avoid his concerned gaze. When she looked back, he was passed out again.

This wasn't good. It wasn't as bad as when she thought she'd killed the guy, but now that he was alive, she couldn't very well leave him here alone.

"Looks like you're coming with me," she muttered to herself. Draping the man's arm over her body, she managed to get him off the ground. It took more than 10 minutes, but slowly but surely, she managed to get him into her car.

Picking up her phone, she made a call to the apartment.

"Hey Ali? Meet me out front in 20. We have a guest."

**Question of the Chapter: What would you do in Clare's situation? **

**Leave a review? The sooner the reviews come flowing... The sooner you get updates. (: **

**Consider it an early Christmas Present. **

**Happy Holidays, **

**Bumblebee93 **


	2. Elevator Rides

**Two updates in one night! (: Can we work on the reviews guys? Please? I'm getting a whole lot of followers. But I got very few reviews. ): **

**Thank you to JJB88, ijb1014, EclareForever21, and setsailforthegoldensea **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Degrassi or any quotes used. (:**

**PS: Thank you to my good friends Maggie and Tana. Tana has become an Editor Extraordinaire, and Maggie helped me write the official summary. (NOT seen above in the summary box)**

**This just didn't happen to girls like me. This just didn't happen to anyone**

**~Jenna-Lynne Duncan; Hurricane**

**Clare-**

Once she got the mystery man into her station wagon, she dug around for a blanket she could lay on top of him. Finding it she covered him up, trying her best to ignore the blood. She was incredibly lucky that Ali was a doctor.

The drive home was nerve wrecking. She was afraid of getting into another accident, and she was afraid of what would happen next. Technically she wasn't kidnapping this man she was just taking him in out of the cold. She was doing him a favor, even though she caused his problems to begin with.

"Hang in there we'll be back at my place in a few minutes…" she muttered, glancing at the unconscious man next to her. His head was drooped over. Whenever she made a turn it rolled from one side to another, he was almost like a rag doll.

After what seemed like a century, the car pulled up to the sidewalk in front of her apartment building. It wasn't a large building and the apartments weren't extravagant, but it fit Clare and Ali well. Ali was waiting for her by one of the light posts.

"Clare? Who'd you bring with you? Jake? Katie? Jenna? We've got plenty of Chinese to go around!" her roommate stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a better view of Clare's car.

"Honestly Ali? I haven't got a clue who this guy is. Just help me get him inside, and I'll explain there." Ali's excitement melted off her face, realizing how serious her best friend was being. Carefully as she could, Clare opened the door to the car. Unbuckling the man from the seat, she draped one of his arms around her, and the other around Ali.

"Clare. What happened?" Ali questioned, shooting a look over the man's shoulders.

"I'll explain inside. Watch his head." Clare grunted, as they lifted him out of the car.

The trip to their 3rd floor apartment was incredibly awkward. The elevator was filled with people, each of them giving the girls strange looks.

"Bar fight-"

"Wasted-"

Uh-oh. Their stories didn't match up.

"He's my boyfriend. A guy hit on me while we were at the bar. He was wasted, and before I could stop him…this guy decided to defend my honor!" Clare rolled her eyes, trying her hardest to pull off the act. The people surrounding them seemed to buy it. Perfect.

Eventually, the elevator stopped at the 3rd floor. Making sure they had a good grip on the unconscious man, Clare and Ali continued the trip to their apartment. They hadn't counted on their elderly neighbor Mrs. Richards being in the hallway with her dog Coco. Coco was the ugliest, loudest, little dog in the building.

"Why! Hello girls!" Mrs. Richards called, giving them a sweet smile and a wave.

"Hi Mrs. Richards. Um… We can't really talk right now. We have to get my boyfriend inside!" Clare called back, hoping the old woman would let things drop there.

"Oh don't you worry dearie! You don't have to explain anything to me! I was young once too!" the old woman laughed, giving Clare a wink. Ali tried to contain a snicker, watching Clare go as red as a tomato.

"Ali, let's get him inside." Clare muttered, not looking up from the ground.

"Right."

"So where do we put him? Your room? My room? The couch?" Ali called from the bathroom. She was in there searching for her first aid kit and the other supplies she was going to need.

"I'm thinking my room. I brought him here. I'd feel bad leaving him on the back destroyer." (Their couch) Clare called back. She had managed to get him into the kitchen, but she wasn't sure how much further she could drag him.

"Okay. Bring him into the bathroom; we can clean him up in there." Ali called, coming down the hallway. Together they managed to get him into the bathroom. Ali had spread some towels out on the floor, so that was where the two girls got to work.

Taking a warm cloth, Clare began wiping at the dried blood on the man's head. The more blood she removed, the more she realized just how handsome he would be if he were awake. Jet black hair framed his face, he had a defined jaw, and when Ali had slipped his shirt off to check for any other damage, Clare couldn't help but notice how defined his muscles were.

_Shit! Of all the people I could hit!_

Ali let out a small whistle.

"Clare-Bear brought home a keeper!" she joked, a toothy grin beginning to spread across her face.

Clare rolled her eyes, trying to fight back a blush. The man was definitely attractive, but being attractive meant that he probably had a girl somewhere. That girl was probably worried sick. Clare new what that felt like.

The two girls worked for another hour or so, cleaning the man up the best they could. He would have to do the rest when he finally woke up.

"I'll bandage him up if you make up the bed," Ali mumbled. She had a package of gauze in her mouth, trying with all her might to tear it open.

"Sounds good. Bhand-aid" Clare responded, she remembered her friend's hatred of making the bed. She didn't see the point in covering something with sheets. Especially when you changed them once a week.

Snagging the warmest set she had out of the closet, she went to her bedroom. Thankfully it wasn't much of a mess. A few stray pieces of underwear here, a book or two there, nothing too bad. Spreading the sheets out on the bed, she made it quickly. A few extra blankets on the foot of it, and it was ready.

"Ali? It's all set up!" she yelled, heading towards the bathroom door.

For one last final time, they draped this poor man over their shoulders, dragging him towards Clare's bedroom. They managed to hoist him up and onto the bed, before they nearly collapsed in exhaustion. Clare slid him under the blankets, wincing when she noticed all the bruises. It had looked a lot less bad in the darkness of the street. Double checking to make sure that everything was tucked in properly, she let out a sigh of relief.

Ali went to the kitchen where she'd left the dumplings, Clare's favorite, and the other Chinese dishes.

"Clare-Bear. You did the right thing." She tried to reassure her friend, handing her a takeout box filled with steamy, fried, goodness.

"I hope so..." she replied, glancing wearily at the John Doe that lay in her bed.

"Will you tell me what happened now?" Ali questioned, curling up in one of the overstuffed armchairs near the bed. She held a box of Crab Rangoon in her hands, chopsticks fumbling to pick it up.

"Well. I was on my way home…"

**Question of the Chapter: Picture yourself as a person in that elevator. Thoughts you'd have? Would you buy their story?**

**Let's try to get to 10-15 reviews for an update? (: **

**And there you have it. Chapter 2. I have a lot of ideas for this story, but I need to see some more feedback. I appreciate the 4 reviewers who took the time to leave me one. (: To those others. Reviews are a way to communicate from author to reader. I'd love to hear some feedback on this. What you guys would like to see happen, what you'd hate to see happen, etc. Let me know in a review. (: **

**Happy Holidays, **

**Bumblebee93 **


	3. Stranger in the Bedroom

**Sorry it has taken me a little while guys. I've had a rough week and with the holidays coming up, I've been busy. Wow. 14 reviews in 2 chapters. :D How about we make it our goal to hit 20-25 for the next one? (: **

**Here's Chapter 3.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Degrassi or any quotes used.**

**Thank you to my friend Tana (Mat) the editor extraordinaire. Thank you to my friend Maggie (the famous 8****th**** grader) for writing the summary.**

**Summary: **

Clare is nothing special. She works as an elf at toy store during the holidays, and is irritable and impatient. Her simple lifestyle takes a wrong turn (quite literally!) when she accidentally hits a boy with her car on her way home. He wakes up with absolutely no recollection of who he is. Terrified, and in a hurry, she throws him in her car and drives home... And thus was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

_Cheating on someone is like driving without a license, the point is, your going to get caught sooner or later_

_Unknown_

**Imogen Moreno- **

She sat alone in the tiny café. Pulling her phone out for what seemed like the billionth time she checked the hour. It was 8:30. He was supposed to meet her here at 7.

"Whatever this huge surprise is, it'd better be worth it," she muttered under her breath. This night had been important to her. She was going to ask him to come home with her for the holidays. She'd told him to meet her at Leo's by 7. Eli Goldsworthy was a lot of things, but he was never THIS late.

She pressed her face against the cool window pane next to the booth, watching the cars drift by. The snow fell down gently, and she couldn't help but smile. The whole scenario reminded her of how they met.

_Imogen sat in a booth at "Leo's Coffee House". Fiona had set her up on ANOTHER blind date. All 10 of the others had been complete failures, but tonight the guy didn't even show up. She tried to ignore the looks the baristas were giving her. Pity filled each of their eyes. _

_She was just about to leave when a man approached the picture window; he turned towards her with a puzzled look. He held up a phone. _

**_Imogen?_**

_She nodded her head._

_He held up his phone again. _

**_Sorry I'm Late _**

They had spent the rest of the night in the café. It'd had been magical.

She finally gave up on fighting. Picking up her phone, she dialed his number and prayed he would pick up.

"C'mon Eli, where are you..." she muttered.

"Hello?" A voice on the other end spoke.

"Eli! Great! Babe where are-"she began, a grin breaking out on her face.

"This isn't Eli." A woman's voice replied.

"Who is it then?" she questioned, feeling the tears begin to fill her eyes.

"Who is this?" The voice mimicked, they must be mocking her.

"Where's Eli? What'd you do with him?" she questioned the anonymous voice.

"He's in my bedroom. Sleeping. Can I take a message?" the voice questioned.

"Yes you can. You can tell Eli that we're done. I'm not going to be stood up like a pile of shit so he can go mess around with his little fuck buddy. "She nearly yelled it into the phone. She clicked the end call button.

_If Eli Goldsworthy thinks he can get away with this he has another thing coming._

**Clare- **

It had been several hours, and the man in her bed still hadn't woken up. She sat in the arm chair next to his bed reading, Ali had fallen asleep. The only sound in the tiny apartment was the clock. And it was stuck at 4:30am for the rest of eternity.

She had begun to doze off when a phone began to ring; she'd nearly had a heart attack. Finding his coat, she dug through the pockets. Eventually she found the phone and answered.

"Eli! Great! Babe where are-"A woman's voice on the other end. It was probably his lucky girl.

"This isn't Eli." She tried to break it gently to the woman, unsure of how she would react.

"Who is it then?" the lady's voice answered back puzzled.

"Who is this?" She questioned, maybe she could take a message for the man when he woke up.

"Where's Eli? What'd you do with him?" the voice accused.

"He's in my bedroom. Sleeping. Can I take a message?" she tried to be as polite as she could, masking her confusion.

"Yes you can. You can tell Eli that we're done. I'm not going to be stood up like a pile of shit so he can go mess around with his little fuck buddy. "Clare held the phone away from her ear unsure of what to do next. It didn't require much thought though, because the woman on the other end hung up.

"Great." She muttered under her breath, setting the phone on the kitchen table. She wandered back to her bedroom. Maybe she could catch some sleep.

When she got there, she was incredibly surprised by the sight before her. The man's body began to move, he let out a groan. He then opened the greenest eyes she had ever seen. A confused look spread across his face.

"Who are you?"

**QOTC: Eli's Position. What would you think? What would you do?**

**And that's all folks! Sorry it is so short. I've been busy. Let me know what you think in a review though? Let's try to hit 20-25 for another chapter! (: **

**Happy Holidays,**

** Bumblebee93 **


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